[1/2] A view of the outside of the JP Morgan Chase & Co. company headquarters in New York Metropolis Could 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar
NEW YORK, Could 19 (Reuters) – A decide mentioned on Friday he would determine by the top of the month whether or not a JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) lawsuit ought to proceed towards a former govt who it accuses of entangling the financial institution with late financier and convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. District Decide Jed Rakoff in Manhattan spoke after a one-hour listening to over whether or not to let the most important U.S. financial institution sue Jes Staley, its former personal banking head.
JPMorgan desires Staley to cowl some or all damages it would face in lawsuits introduced by Epstein’s accusers and the U.S. Virgin Islands over its ties to Epstein.
The lawsuits accuse the financial institution of aiding in Epstein’s intercourse trafficking by maintaining him as a consumer from 1998 to 2013, the final 5 years after he pleaded responsible to a Florida prostitution cost.
Had Staley “noticed his obligations, Epstein wouldn’t have been a consumer,” mentioned Leonard Gail, a lawyer for JPMorgan.
Staley, who later served as Barclays Plc’s (BARC.L) chief govt, has expressed remorse for befriending Epstein however denied realizing about his crimes.
He has accused JPMorgan of utilizing him as a “public relations defend” for its personal supervisory failures,” and that others on the financial institution have been conscious of Epstein’s misconduct.
“They aren’t purely passive,” Staley’s lawyer Stephen Wohlgemuth mentioned on Friday.
The instances are slated for an Oct. 23 trial.
Rakoff has mentioned JPMorgan might be liable if Epstein’s accusers can show that Staley had firsthand data that Epstein, who was identified to socialize with distinguished politicians and enterprise leaders, ran a sex-trafficking enterprise.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 whereas awaiting trial for intercourse trafficking. New York Metropolis’s medical expert known as the dying a suicide.
Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Modifying by Daniel Wallis
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